I mentioned in this post about using Shikakai as a natural shampoo. I was going to wait until I'd used up the last of the Body Shop bottles before I gave it a go...

It has to be said that I am very impatient.

So I thought that now we are leaving anyway, I may as well give away my 'Sodium Lauryl Sulphate' and get used to using the shikakai before I go. I went to the local Indian supermarket and started scouring the hair products, finding only a 'Shikakai Hair Soap' in a bar, by several different brands, all of which had no list of ingredients. I wasn't too sure about the soap, so I asked for help from an assistant. She ran all over the shop and came back to me with a packet of shikakai powder, only 99p.

I picked up a little steel dabba to store my treasure in an exitedly went home.

We spent Friday night at my Mums so Angel and I got to have a bath, something I really miss. So we both tried it out together.

I used about a tablespoon of the powder with a little water and massaged it in. It's not soapy, in fact it doesn't lather at all and it feels a bit grainy like exfoliating your scalp. I left it on for about 2 minutes and then rinsed it out.

As soon as I started to rinse I knew it had worked a miracle! Because my hair is quite long I wear it up all the time, even in bed, so it gets very tangled. I only wash it about twice a week so the knots are a usually a mess. When the shikakai washed out my hair felt incredibly soft.

Brushing it through was easier than usual and it dried completely straight (I usually have a slight wave) My hair has truthfully never been this good. I'm sure it looks thicker and it just feels beautiful.

I never use shampoo on my daughters hair so she was a bit unsure of the scratchy head massage at first and hated the rinsing, but it was well worth it because her curls are looking lovely now.

So thats me hooked... 100% natural, pure and has a low pH that doesn't strip you hair of it's natural oils.

I'll probably use it twice a week and see how things go from there. I may try the soap bar too if I can find out what's in it. Whilst looking for a list of ingredients, I found this thread, which is extremely informative with regards to Indian herbal hair care.

From here on I'm will endeavor to join the 'nopooers' of the world...

***

Second nopoo last night, my hair still feels wonderful! I used it on my face and body this time, like an exfoliating scrub...wonderful!

I'm going to get some Neem powder and Amla powder too as I have read they are also great for hair. Neem is a 'miracle' of nature, having a list of medicinal properties longer than a sari. Amla, Indian gooseberry is a natural conditioner, so mixed with the shikakai it should make my hair look and feel even more beautiful.

Neem has been used in India for thousands of years to clean teeth. Simplicity and sustainability in a stick!

As you can probably tell by now, I have found the answer to all sorts of problems I constantly battle against... The miracle powder for instant beauty, instant decluttering, instant anti-consumerism, instant traveling light and instant happiness!!!

Things at home on the 'path to self sufficiency' are taking a back seat at the moment. The main focus now is a 'path to simplicity' in preparation for our upheaval.

It's not that I don't care anymore or that I've changed my mind, I just have to think a bit more about the short term right now. The future will come, but we have no idea what we'll be doing yet or where.

So over the next few weeks I have to analyze all the possessions we have and decide what to do with them all. We have managed to collect quite a bit of general clutter, just because we thought we would be staying for another 2 years. I suppose the longer you plan on staying in one place, the more you collect. I'm quite accustomed now to packing my life up into boxes, the funny thing is opening them a few years later and wondering 'Why on earth did I save that?'

So sitting here wondering 'Have I really got that much stuff? I thought about the different types of things that seem to appear the longer I stay in one place. Home comforts become more permanent. Temporary things amass. 'Things that might be useful one day' get forgotten in deep cupboards and lofts. Attachment then turns to suffering...

So I've been mentally de-cluttering. Window shopping in my own home, deciding what I really love, what can go now, what can go soon and what I might miss. I am quite harsh when it comes to clearing out, the 'Obliteator' in me often wins. Though I have many times just wished I had kept something that really could have been useful!

So instead of being stressed about how much I have now and how much I have to get rid of, I categorized my 'things' into 3 main groups, so I could easily plan the 'Minimize and Simplify Project'. They are:

*Prized possessions - beautiful things collected throughout life.

For me that includes a few big books about India, photography, Buddhism, cookery and beautiful interior design. I don't buy books anymore because I am forever on the move, so the few I have decided to keep mean a lot to me.

I spent some time practicing Tibetan Buddhism at a difficult time in my life so I have a few books, prayer texts, mala's and Buddha images which I cherish. I think I have found the concept of religion too difficult for me to grasp any specific belief, but if any has made a profound impact on me, it would be the Buddhist philosophy.

Framed photos of our family. Only a few but very precious to me.

I have a bit of an obsession with natural material baskets and boxes. I have a few that I keep because they are hard to find now and very expensive. I wouldn't rush to save them in a fire but I won't get rid of them just to simplify because they help me contain all the little things you need that otherwise clutter your life, like toiletries and 'bits and bobs'.

I have one painting, a piece of aboriginal art, I bought in Australia. It cost me £350 nearly 10 years ago and I love it. I doubt I would ever sell it.

My MacBook. It's a big part of my life right now. I'm sure you can relate. I have all my photos and music backed up on an external hard drive and photos double backed up on DVD. Plus there's all the miles of cables that seems to be a part of laptop life, I never could understand why something that was supposed to be so portable, ends up weighing three times more when you include the cables! Long live wireless networks and hurry up with the no cable solar powered supply...

I don't count jewellery as a possession because it's a part of me. I never take it off and it doesn't clutter my life.

*Transitional things - functional and practical objects for everyday life.

Things for each room in the house. Kitchen crockery, cutlery, pots, pans, pillows, furniture. I could walk away very easily and leave it all behind. Most of it I will leave for the next tenant as we have bought a lot to make the place homely such as a kitchen blind and shelves.

Clothes. I never really cared much for fashion, I'm more of a comfortable jeans and flip flops girl. So clothes have never been a problem for me to part with, more that they fall apart because they are so cheap!

*Consumables - Things that get used up.

Eatables (as they like to call them in India!), cleaning products, toiletries. I have already made a big effort in the past to reduce these.

My menu planning has reduced our stock of food to a minimal supply. Oh yes... those cleaning bottles are still there. It doesn't matter now, they're staying, along with the Ecover that I will be leaving to encourage the new tenant into (eco)nciousness. Travelling light makes you realise how little you really need to get by with each day, so I rarely have too many toiletries. I don't wear make up and I rarely brush my hair let alone put stuff in it or dry it with cabled electronics. If there's anything left I give it away.

***

I like to think of it like cleansing my life down to a minimum again, so as scary as it all seems to be, when I'm looking at a packed bag or a cardboard box, I know that it's the start of a new adventure, with no extra baggage...

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Watermead Country Park on the outskirts of Leicester City. A beautifully manmade area of reservoirs situated along the old Grand Union Canal.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about my childhood and how I spent whole days wandering off on my own to the nearby fields and rivers, no cares, no fears, exploring, collecting, dreaming and imagining...

Back in those days the countryside was for everyone to share and discover their own piece of nature...

Remembering the silly games played with my friends, climbing trees, picking wild flowers and foraging for blackberries...

We knew what each flower was, the exciting changes that happened throughout the seasons, which was best for pretty fairies floating through the air...

So do you like my new look? It's called Zenlike, I chose it for the colours of the Indian earth, brown, green and orange. I love the wooden clapboard too because it reminds me of a simple home in the heart of nature, somewhere in the world, a bit like this one...

One of the main reasons that I want to go back to live in India is because of the guilt that I feel living in a first world country. I am not a saint, I have lived my life to excess at some points. I have been drunk far too many times, I have spent too much money on clothes, electronics, food and every other luxury that is thrown in my face by consumerism. I have wasted, not wanted... and been ungrateful for what life has given me...

When I think of myself throwing food away, leaving a tap dripping all night, spending ridiculous amounts of money on crap, I feel angry and determined to make up for all the mistakes I have made.

My journey is not one of self satisfaction... It is not a fashion statement... It is nothing to do with offsetting my footprint in this world. That to me would be like the first world countries 'buying' their freedom from third world countries, to pollute their skies for money. I don't want to work hard, play hard and pay for my 'carbon footprint' later with cash, when by doing that somebody else in the world has to work hard, never play and never get to drink a glass of fresh water.

It causes me great anguish to see adverts for 'the lowest omission 4x4 on the road'... WHY oh WHY do you NEED a Range Rover Sport in the hills of London, to get to Waitrose and back? (I just found this website, of the 'Alliance Against Urban 4x4s'... thank God I'm not alone!)

I don't deserve to have more than everybody else, do I? Should I think that God has put me here in 'Material Heaven' I should not be accountable for the other 2/3rds of the worlds population.

Since I have travelled and seen the world, met the 'real' people out there, the people with passion for life, the people who smile when they see you... I have realised what 'poor' really means. These so called poor people are richer than me in every way. They have the support from their extended families, they are happy with what they have, they have pride in their jobs, they have faith in their God.

A lot better than working in Tesco's?

I feel it is my duty as a mother to bring my daughter into a world of pride and respect. Human life is so precious, whether it belongs to a king or a beggar. Who can decide which life is worth more?

This lady may not have much to sell but she has her pride.

I have some poor friends. In fact I have met so many people over the years who have touched my heart. More than that they have shown me what life is really about, the beauty in a sunset, a shell or even a leftover meal.

One beggar I passed everyday on the streets of Calcutta, smiled at me and never asked me for money, she had pride. One day I took her the leftovers of our lunch and a small muffin. Many beggars just grab what you give and run away. She looked into my eyes and said to me "Thank you Sister"...

Some of the most beautiful people I have met have been poor. They have invited me into their homes, their families and their lives and prepared food for me with no thought to how much my meal cost. Many of the mothers have gone without to feed their guest. One saying in India is, Atithi devo bhavah, or "our guests are our gods" (Taken from Hindu scripture) There is no Indian home where you will not be treated to food and a drink, however poor the family is. They will go without themselves to feed a visitor.

***

This is one day that I will never forget...

A mother of four, younger than me, a husband who drinks, sleeps and rarely goes to work. Four beautiful children, they don't go to school, they have learnt English from foreigners, they spend their days looking for tourists to sell their goods to... invited me to lunch at their house.

Real happiness comes from other people...

From living close to nature...

Still want that Ikea kitchen?

True pride comes from being humble...

Sincere hospitality is giving more than you've got...

I have been friends with them ever since...

***

So my plan to live a self sufficient life has a little bit to do with wanting to save our planet for our future children, but it is mostly about living my life in a simpler way to make room for everyone to enjoy our world. For my conscience to blossom and grow into compassion for others who are less fortunate than me. For me to teach peace and humility to my beautiful daughter, who deserves more than I ever had... not possessions, but experiences...

At long last we got to pick our own strawberries! Everyday the angel stands next to the flowers and looks into the sage. This being where I have tried to hide the strawberries from the nasty slugs, who had stolen the first juicy ripe ones! She tries to sneakily take them when they are still white and she does the same with the green tomatoes...

I know the land in the hills of Kerala is perfect for growing strawberries. It's a similar climate to England, without out the grey clouds and drizzle! A place I've dreamt of going to is Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. Renouned for their strawberries, Mahabaleshwar is a hillstation of similar climate to Vagamon or Munnar. So I have high hopes of growing a field (or patch!) of strawberries in the future.

So I would like some advice for expert strawberry growers (more than 3 strawberries counts!) about how to keep the nasty pesty things of my fruit... organically of course.

"That is exactly what Mahabaleshwar is all about in the Indian summer! A place to escape the torrid heat that grips Mumbai, a place to romance strawberries and mulberries, a place to cool off in the thunderous hailstorms thatshower the hot tin roofs and plunge the temperatures for lovers to revel in!

Mahabaleshwar has something for all young and old, trekker and stroller, shopper and foodie or maybe someone who just loves to laze around. Therefore, you will find families, backpackers, moony honeymooners, all doing their own thing and generally having a good time."

(You can cook the Beef, Turmeric and a little Salt in water, in a pressure cooker if you have one, for 20 minutes for more tender beef. It reduces the final cooking time and saves energy too! I just use a saucepan with a lid and bring it to the boil for 5 minutes)

Note: I use electric, so when I mention turning off the heat, I leave the pan on the stove as the element cools down. If you use gas you would have to leave the gas on low for a few minutes before turning off the flame to get the same result. (Does that mean electric ovens are more energy efficient? Does anyone have a gas versus electric argument? I'd like to know...)

In a large pan or wok, fry the onions, garlic, ginger, curry leaves and green chili in 2 tbsp of oil (preferably coconut for an authentic South Indian taste, it really makes a big difference)

When the onions are golden, add the coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric and chili powder.

When the oil separates from the spices its time to add the tomatoes and the beef.

Give it a good stir to mix all the fried spices, onions and beef evenly. Add 1/2 cup of water if needed, cover with a lid or large plate, then turn down the heat to simmer for 1 hour or more until reduced by half. Finally, when beef is tender add the coconut milk if desired OR a dash of vinegar (DO NOT MIX BOTH)

We use packets of masala (literally means 'mix') They come pre-mixed for chicken, meat, fish, chick peas, tandoori and a million other things. You can buy them in any Indian store and recently some of the larger supermarkets have an Asian aisle. We use 'Everest' or 'Eastern' brands. Choose one that says 'meat masala', or 'mutton masala' (mutton is a generic word for beef)

If you want to make your own Garam Masala, the ingredients are listed on the Everest website but they don't give quantities. This blog has a nice recipe to make your own.

Note on Coconut Oil...This one is 95p from Tesco... but I encourage you to shop locally and buy it at your nearest Indian shop. It usually comes in a jar that looks like mayo and it's thick like lard. You'll sometimes find it in the beauty section, as it's also great for your hair! Just make sure it's 100% pure Coconut Oil.

I have had a lovely comment left for me on 'Little Yellow Flower' from Zlamushka... So this is my entry into her blogs August 'Tried and Tasted'. "This month is a celebration of health, positive spirit and hopes - KUDOS to you, Jai & Bee :-)"

There are also some great tips from Jai and Bee on how to grow potatoes in a cardboard box!

I used only two, quite large chillies and thank God I did!

It was a little spicier than I like it, so next time I'd use only one.

I was supposed to stick to the original recipe to stay true to the final dish, but we don't have any asafoetida or kalonji (nigella seeds) so these ingredients were left out. Thus staying as true as possible without compromising my frugal journey to empty cupboards..

I had a jar of black dal in a jar in the cupboard. Now me being, well me, had not labeled the type of dal it was. At a good guess it was very likely to be Urad Dal :) It wasn't of the shelled variety so there is a little more roughage in my puris to help you get a bit more fibre in your diet!

Take note of the 360*F temperature as it really does make the puris puff up like a dream. Wait a few seconds before you drop the next one in, to give time for the oil to heat up again.

The final verdict... really good, mouthwatering (especially with the amount of chili I added!)